Square Enix to Announce New MMO This Fiscal Year

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Square Enix has an interesting track record with MMOs: their first outing, Final Fantasy XI, seemed to be at least somewhat successful. Then came Final Fantasy XIV, which was so broken when it released that Square Enix had to offer players tons of free play time so they would stick around while the bugs were worked out. In fact, the PS3 version is still stuck in limbo while they work out all the issues.

And yet, they’re pushing forward with a new MMO that will be announced sometime before the end of this fiscal year. Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada mentioned the new MMO in a earnings briefing that was translated by Andriasang, saying that the company hopes to operate two or three MMOs (in this case three, with Final Fantasy XI still going strong) simultaneously, which will result in a regular flow of cash for them.

They seem to be forgetting that people have to want to play your game before the cash begins to flow, and Square Enix is probably missing out on a fair few monthly subscription fees thanks the poor reviews Final Fantasy XIV suffered (though, in fairness, Final Fantasy XI did quite well with critics).

Still, maybe they’ll bounce back after Final Fantasy XIV and get it right this time. Whether we’re heading for another catastrophe or a solid MMO experience is anyone’s guess, but we’ll be finding out more details in an official reveal sometime before next April.